Find your Business Mentor

A mentor is a person with more experience in business, or simply in life, who can help an entrepreneur hone her or his abilities and advise him or her on navigating new challenges. A mentor can be a boon to an entrepreneur in a broad range of scenarios, whether they provide pointers on business strategy, bolster your networking efforts or act as confidantes when your work-life balance gets out of whack. But the first thing you need to know when seeking out a mentor is what you're looking for from the arrangement.
what's 'your vision at the end? What does success look like and what is your objective? Is it to be financially independent? Is it to do something meaningful? Will you Have time for your family?' Knowing a business owner's goals helps him and gives him a better understanding and what he brings to the equation.

How do you search for your business mentor?

1. Start with family and friends - 
When looking for a mentor, start close to home. Very close to home. 'Sometimes you can talk to your own relatives or friends, people who you trust, who you know, who you can sit and say ‘gee whiz, what do you think about this

2) Consider those in your extended network - 
If your friends and family give you enough unsolicited advice already, and you don't think that's the route for you, your remaining options are people who don't know you as well or don't know you at all yet. How do you ask for such a big commitment from a near stranger? The first step is to reach out to your network of contacts. A positive word from a mutual friend can go a long way towards getting a mentoring relationship off to a good start.

3) Attend conferences-
You shouldn't choose a mentor overnight, which means you should keep your antenna poised to pick up on potential mentors at conferences, trade shows, etc. Meeting with a future mentor in person helps build a rapport and you might want to wait until that connection develops before popping the questions through local and international conferences.

4) Consider complete strangers - 
Maybe none of the people in your network seem like a good fit for you. Start doing some research. Profiles of business owners in magazines and newspapers might key you in to someone who matches your style. But once you have some prospects proceed delicately. Find out as much as you can about the potential mentor and try to schedule a brief interview by phone saying you have some specific questions or just generally want to pick their brain.

5) Pay for a mentor - 
But what if you have a great idea that you want to get off the ground quickly, and you need a quick jolt of expertise? Good informal mentorships are cultivated gradually and can often last for years. If what you need is a crash course, it might be time to bring in the consultants.

Written by Dr Yewande obadolore

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